Useful and medicinal properties of spring primrose( sheep)
Family Primrose - Primulaceae
The generic name comes from the Latin prima - the first, as the plant blooms early in the spring. The species definition is formed from the Latin ver - spring for the same reason.
Botanical description. A perennial herb with a vertical or obliquely growing rhizome. The stem is rounded, upright, juicy and represents a flower arrow 15-30 cm high. Only the lower part of it with short interstices carries a rosette of leaves. Leaves ovate or oblong-ovate with blunt apex and slightly crenate margin, tapering toward the base in winged petiole, short pubescent. Before flowering, when it's still cool, the edges of the leaves are bent inside, and the young leaves are almost folded into the tube at this time. Flowers( 5-13) are bright yellow, drooping in one direction at the top of the flower arrow in an umbellate inflorescence, similar to a curl. Calyx bell-bellied, five-trimmed. Corolla tubular, with a small bend of five blades and a long tube. At the base of the bend of each petal there is an orange spot. At the entrance to the corolla tube 5 flakes. Stamens five, pistil one with upper single-cavity ovary. Stamens and stems of pistils in different flowers are at different levels. In some - the stigma of the pistil rises above the anthers, since the filaments are short, in others, on the contrary, there are high stamens and a low pestle. Such a phenomenon is called heterogeneity( heterostylia) and is the result of plant adaptation to cross pollination.
Fruit is a multi-seeded, ovoid capsule surrounded by the remaining calyx, opening at the tip with 10 small denticles. In damp weather, the denticles curl inward, and the capsule closes.
Blossoms from the middle of April to July. Fruits ripen in June - July.
We also use a close view - Primula primrose - Primula macrocalyx Bunge, in which the calyx is dilated.
Geographical spread. Primula spring grows in broad-leaved and mixed forests, in birch forests, in forest glades and along the edge of pine forests, among bushes.
occurs in the forest and forest-steppe zones of the European part of the USSR.To the east, in the Volga region, it is replaced by primordial large-bore, which behind the Urals disappears and disappears, but appears again in the Tomsk region, in the Altai and in the Sayans. The second species grows in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, and both species grow in the foothills of the Crimea.
Collection and drying. Mass harvesting of the primrose can not be carried out, as the plant becomes rare and included in the Red Book, and its culture has not yet been mastered. Therefore, raw materials are harvested in small quantities for local needs. If necessary, the primrose can be introduced into the culture. Sow seeds for the winter, and the plantation can be used for many years.
For the preparation of the primrose sheet from wild plants, the collector must have a license, without which the collection is prohibited.
Collect leaves at the beginning of flowering plants, tearing them off with their hands. At the same time, half the leaves on each plant are left in order not to damage the bloom and fruit bearing. The leaves are dried quickly in attics, but it is better in ovens or dryers at a temperature of 90-100 °.In the latter case, they retain more vitamin C( ascorbic acid).
Earlier, the roots of the primrose were also harvested, containing saponins, but now the collection and use of these are stopped, since there are other saponin-bearing plants with an expectorant effect.
Medicinal raw materials. Finished raw material - a leaf of primrose( Folium Primulae) consists of whole and partially broken leaves of the structure described above. Leaves on both sides are wrinkled, wavy along the rim, city-steep or fine-toothed. The petiole is usually 1.5 times longer than the plate, which is from 3.5 to 10 cm.
Has a slight honey smell. The taste first sweet, then bitter, slightly burning.
GOST 3166-76 allows: moisture not more than 13%;ash not more than 12%;yellowed and browned leaves not more than 2%;crushed parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 1 mm, not more than 3%;flowers not more than 8%;organic and mineral
impurities not more than 0.5%;ascorbic acid at least 2.3%.
The inexperienced collectors, together with the primrose leaves, can also collect a drop of the medicinal letter "Betoni-ca officinalis L." This labium-colored plant does not look like a primrose at the time of its flowering. The stem is quadrangular, the leaves are crosswise opposite, the flowers are bilabiate, light purple. But during the flowering of the primrose, the initial letter does not yet bloom. The leaves appearing at this time have, like the primrose, a leaf edge wrapped inside and very similar to it. It is possible to distinguish this organic admixture in raw materials in accordance with the following features: the base of the leaf at the initial letter with a heart-shaped notch, the edge is large-bodied, and the petioles are uncorrelated.
Chemical composition. The leaf of the primrose( dry) contains up to 5.9% of vitamin C. The raw material is valuable also because it can be harvested in the early spring, when there are no other sources of vitamin C and when the need for it is particularly great. In addition, up to 2% of saponins, flavonoids, up to 3 mg% of carotene, etc. are contained.
Action and application. A primrose leaf is used when there is a lack of vitamin C.